National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) 2015 festive enforcement campaign results

These campaign results confirm a much heavier emphasis on detecting drug drivers during the NPCC’s 2015 festive enforcement campaign.

During the campaign, which ran from 1-31 December, 1,888 drug screening devices were administered by police officers, with nearly 50% of those tested found to be under the influence of drugs. NPCC says more people tested positive for drug driving in December 2015 than in the whole of 2014. The results are attributed to new legislation and drug detection devices which have made it easier for police to identify and prosecute drug drivers.

With regard to drink driving, there were considerably fewer breath tests administered in the 2015 campaign than the previous three years, but the percentage testing positive increased. NPCC says this is due to police forces using an “intelligence-led approach” which targeted “drink drive hotspots”.

During the 2015 campaign some 110,226 tests were administered, with 5.02% of those testing positive.

The comparable figures for the three previous years are:

2014: 133,996 tests and 4.39% positive
2013: 191,040 tests and 3.42% positive
2012: 175,831 tests and 4.05% positive

The percentage testing positive in England is considerably higher than in Scotland where 3% of tests were positive, and Wales where 2.61% of tests were positive.